Examples
The following examples show a single URL and what you can and cannot enter to have a block of that URL enforced. The list of URLs is built out from a single example, modifying a single parameter to show whether the URL "//a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe?z=z&super=bad&test=yes" would be blocked based on a URL.
In these examples, the protocol is stripped as it would be by the interface.
If you wanted to block this URL a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe?z=z&super=bad&test=yes the following logic would apply.
| URL | Blocked? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe?z=z&super=bad&test=yes | Yes | The full URL is entered. |
| a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe?super=bad&test=yes&z=z | Yes | "&" is a delimiter; therefore, it's added as another level to the URL after the word "yes". |
| a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe?super=bad&test=yes | No | "?" is a delimiter so the URL still would begin at the "yes" and any enforcement would happen after that. |
| a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe? | No | Given the "?", it still means only characters after "yes" will be enforced; therefore, a direct download of this file would be allowed. |
| a.co/cx/15195/100/setup_1848x19m.exe | No | We will still only block any paths after "yes"; therefore, a direct download of this file would be allowed. |
If you want to block this URL g.com/a/d, the following logic applies.
Note: These are only examples of destination list entries that would and would not block the URL g.com/a/d.
| URL | Blocked? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| g.com/a/d | Yes | The full URL is entered. |
| g.com/a/d?g | Yes | Delimits the path with the query "g" but still just a delimiter thus this will be enforced. |
| g.com/a/d? | Yes | URL + the "?" delimiter. |
| g.com/a/ | No | The URL ends with "/d" so anything before "/d" would not be enforced. |
| g.com/a/?a | No | The URL ends with "/d" so anything before "/d" would not be enforced. |
If you want to block this URL d.co/cx/15195/100, the following applies.
Note: These are only examples of which destination list entries would block the URL "d.co/cx/15195/100" and which would not.
| URL | Enforced | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| d.co/cx/15195/100 | Yes | The full URL is entered. |
| d.co/cx/15195/100/? | Yes | Everything after the delimited "/" after 100 would be blocked. |
| d.co/cx/15195/100/ | Yes | Everything after the delimited "/" after 100 would be blocked. |
| d.co/cx/15195/100 | Yes | Everything after the delimiting "/" after 100 would be blocked. |
| d.co/cx/15195/10 | No | The delimiter is only for paths after the "/" so any changes to the final path of /100/ would be ignored. |
| d.co/cx/15195/1000 | No | The delimiter is only for paths after the "/" so any changes to the final path of /100/ would be ignored. |
| d.co/cx/15195/ | No | The delimiter is only for paths after the "/" so any changes to the final path of /100/ would be ignored. |
| d.co/cx/15195 | No | The delimiter is only for paths after the "/" so any changes to the final path of /100/ would be ignored. |
Note: There are normalization rules that most administrators never encounter. If you find that a URL is not being properly filtered and you've confirmed that all criteria are met, see the URL Normalization RFC.